Draft-equalizer



(No Model.)

W. H. PRITTS.

DRAFT EQUALIZER.

No. 377,024. Patented Jan. 31, 1888.

ihvrrsn tarts WILLIAM HENRY FBITTS, OF PLANO, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT -EQUALIZER.

SPECZPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 377,024, dated January 31, 1888.

Application filed March 3, 1887. Serial No. 229,602.

(No model.)

a citizen of the United States, residing at Plano,

in the county of Kendall and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Draft-Equalizers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in draft-equalizers for harvesters; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a three-horse equalizer which is adapted to be convertedinto a two-horse equalizer at pleasure in order to permit the team attached to the harvester to be driven through a narow gateway and over narrow roads and bridges.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved equalizer when adapted for the attachment of three horses. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same when adapted for the attachment of two horses. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail view.

A represents the draft pole or tongue, and B represents a plate which is bolted on the upper side thereof, and is provided with an arm, 0, that projects beyond one side of the tongue.

D represents a transverse lever, which is pivoted at a distance of one-third of its length to the projecting ear or arm 0 of the plate B.

E represents a short lever, which is pivoted at its inner end to the plate B, in front of the lever D, and the outer end of the said lever E projects from the same side of the tongue with the short end of the lever B. A strap, F, has its rear end bolted to the rear side of the plate B, and the said strap extends forward, passes over the short end of the lever D, and bears upon the inner end of the lever B, and is attached to the pivotal bolt G, which pivots the latter to the base-plate and to the tongue. The lower end of this bolt projects below the lower side of the tongue and is provided with a ver tical series of transverseopenings adapted to receive linchpins to prevent the bolt from becoming accidentally disengaged from the tongue.

H represents a link, which is pivotally connected to the lever E at a slight distance from the pivotal bolt Gr The rear end of the said link is adapted to be connected to the short end of the lever B by means of a bolt, I, which engages either of a series of three openings, 1, 2, and S, which are made in the short end of the lever D, and are arranged in a curved line drawn from the center of the bolt which pivots the front end of the link H to the lever E.

K represents a strap, which has its rear end bolted on the rear end of the strap F, and the said strap K extends diagonally outward and forward from the strap F, and has its outer end bearing on the upper side of the lever D, and pivoted thereto by the same bolt which serves as the fulcrum for the said lever.

To the free end of the short lever E is pivoted a link, L, which serves for the attachment ofasingletree, M, and to the free end of the long lever D is pivoted a link, N, which serves for the attachment of a whiftletree, O, the ends of which are provided with the usual singletrees, P. The whiffletree O is connected to the front end of the link N by means of a pivotal bolt, R, which passes through the front end of the link and through the central opening in the whiftletree. \Vhen thus arranged, the device is adapted for the attachment of three horses, as shown in Fig. 1'. The horse which is attached to the singletree M is ranged on one side of the tongue, and the horses which are attached to the singletrces P are on the opposite side of the tongue.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that all three of the singlctrees are ranged in the same line. The openings 1, 2, and 3, which are made in the short end of the long lever, serve to shift the strain, so that it may be caused to bear unequally on the horses on opposite sides of the tongue, when necessary to do so, in the event of one of the horses being weaker than the others. \Vhen the bolt I connects the rear end of the link H with the central opening, 2, theload is applied equally to the three horses. \Vhen the said bolt connects the said link to either of the openings 1 or 3, the load is unequally distribnted among the three horses, as will be readily understood.

Many gateways, roads, and bridges are not sufficiently wide to permit the passage of three horses abreast, and in order to enable the team attached to the harvester to be driven through such narrow places it is necessary to detach one of the horses. To accomplish this expeditiousl y, the pivotal bolt G is removed to permit the short lever E to be swung rearward parallel with the long lever, and thereby carry the singletree M with it, and the boltGris then dropped in the opening in the said short lever to prevent it from becoming lost. The boltR is then disengaged from the whiftletree O and the link N, and the whiffletree is placed between the strap F and the tongue, with its central opening rangingwith the openings made 1n the said strap and tongue, and the bolt R is reinserted in the whiffletree and enters the said openings in the strap and tongue, thereby pivoting the center of the whiftletreeto thetongue, as shown in Fig. 2. This causes the horses attached to the singletrees P to, range on opposite sides ofthe tongue, as shown in Fig. 2, thus entirely dispensing with the horse formerly attached to the whiffletree, and thereby narrowing the Width of the team and enabling the machine to be driven through narrow places.

It will be noted, by reference to Fig. 2, that the long arm of the lever G does not project beyond the outer end of the contignoussingletree P, and that none of the parts are detached when the draft equalizer is in. this position, and consequently no part of the apparatus is likely to become lost or forgotten.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a draft-equalizer, the combination of the tongue, the long lever D, pivoted at a suitable distance from one end and provided with the series of openings 1, 2, and 3 at its shorter end, the short lever E, pivoted to the tongue and projecting beyond the same side thereof with the shorter end of the lever'D, the link H, pivoted to the short lever E, near the inner end thereof, and the bolt I, to connect the rear end of the said link to either of the series of openings in the short arm of the lever D, the said openings being arranged in a curved line drawn from the center of the bolt that connects link H to short lever E, for the purpose set the singletree M, attached to the outer end of the lever E, the removable bolt G, to extend th rough aligned openings in the strap F, lever E, and tongue, to pivot the inner end of the said lever to the tongue in advance of thelever D, the whiflletree O, and the removable bolt R, to attach the same either to the link N at the long end of the lever D or to the tongue, all combined and arranged to operate substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signatu re in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM HENRY FRITTS. 

